1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an arm restraint for the ejection seat of an aircraft.
2. Description of Related Art
Military aircraft are typically equipment with an ejection seat that can catapult the pilot from the cockpit of the plane. The aircraft is typically traveling at high speeds such that the pilot is subjected to a wind blast when the seat is ejected. The wind blast and subsequent travel by the seat may cause the arms of the pilot to flail about, thereby exposing the pilot to possible injury. It is therefore desirable to provide an arm restraint with the ejection seat to prevent movement of the pilots arms when the seat is ejected.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,086 issued to Yamada; U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,523 issued to Herndon; U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,156 issued to Ideskar; U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,835 issued to Wedgwood; U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,902 issued to Zenobi; U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,462 issued to Martin; U.S. Pat. No. 3,083,938 issued to Brinkwirth et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,359,200 issued to Brevard et al. and Great Britain Patent No. 1,570,283 issued to Barton et al., all disclose ejection seats with arm restraints that restrain the movement of the pilots arms when the seat is ejected.
The Yamada reference discloses an arm restraint that includes a pair of straps that extend through a series of rings and are initially looped through detachable flaps located on the shoulders of the pilot. The ends of the straps are attached to the cockpit of the plane. When the seat is ejected, the straps are pulled tight along the sides of the pilots arms. Although the Yamada arm restraint restricts the pilots arms from moving sideways, the straps do not prevent the arms from moving upward toward the head of the pilot.
The Herndon reference discloses a restraint system that contains straps and netting which cocoon the pilot when the seat is ejected. The Herndon restraint system requires a number of guide members and a firing device that are complex in operation and expensive to produce. It would be desirable to provide a simple arm restraint system for an ejection seat that would prevent the pilots arms from moving in either a sideward or upward direction.